Zechariah 1

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

In the eighth month, in the second year of [the reign of] Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying,

2 The Lord has become angry over the resentful anger of your fathers.

The Lord has been very angry with your fathers.

3 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.

And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord Almighty: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.

4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked thoughts. But they did not heed, and neither did they pay attention to me, says the Lord.

And be you not as your fathers, whom the prophets before charged, saying, Thus says the Lord Almighty: Turn you from your evil ways, and from your evil practices: but they listened not, and attended not to listen to me, says the Lord.

5 Your fathers, where are they? And will the prophets live unceasingly?

Where are your fathers, and the prophets? Will they live for ever?

6 Yet truly my words and my lawfulness, which I entrusted to my servants the prophets, were indeed comprehended by your fathers, and so they were converted, and they said: Just as the Lord of hosts decided to do to us, according to our ways and according to our inventions, so has he done to us.

But do you receive my words and mine ordinances, all that I command by my Spirit to my servants the prophets, who lived in the days of your fathers; and they answered and said, As the Lord Almighty determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so has he done to us.

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is called Shevat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

On the twenty-fourth [day] in the eleventh month, this is the month Sabat, in the second year of [the reign of] Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying,

8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the chasm. And behind him were horses: red, speckled, and white.

I saw by night, and behold a man mounted on a red horse, and he stood between the shady mountains; and behind him were red horses, and grey, and piebald, and white.

9 And I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me, “I will reveal to you what these are.”

And I said, What are these, [my] lord? And the angel spoke with me said to me, I will show you what these [things] are.

10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they, whom the Lord has sent in order to walk through the earth.”

And the man that stood between the mountains answered, and said to me, These are [they] whom the Lord has sent forth to go round the earth.

11 And those who stood among the myrtle trees answered the angel of the Lord, and they said, “We have walked through the earth, and behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at rest.”

And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood between the mountains, and said, We have gone round all the earth, and, behold, all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.

12 And the angel of the Lord answered and said, “Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry? This is now the seventieth year.”

Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord Almighty, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, which you has disregarded these seventy years?

13 And the Lord answered the angel, who had been speaking with me, good words, consoling words.

And the Lord Almighty answered the angel that spoke with me good words and consolatory sayings.

14 And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal.

And the angel that spoke with me said to me, Cry out and say, Thus says the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and Sion with great jealousy.

15 And, with a great anger, I am angry with the wealthy nations. Though I had been angry a little, truly they advanced further in evil.

And I am very angry with the heathen that combine to attack [her]: forasmuch as I indeed was a little angry, but they combined to attack [her] for evil.

16 Because of this, thus says the Lord: I will be turned back, towards Jerusalem, with mercies; and my house will be built upon this, says the Lord of hosts. And the building line will be extended over Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; and my house shall be rebuilt in her, says the Lord Almighty, and a measuring line shall yet be stretched out over Jerusalem.

17 Until then, cry out saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Until then, my cities will flow with good things, and, until then, the Lord will comfort Zion, and, until then, he will single out Jerusalem.

And the angel that spoke with me said to me, Cry yet, and say, Thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet shall cities be spread abroad through prosperity; and the Lord shall yet have mercy upon Sion, and shall choose Jerusalem.

18 And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw. And behold: four horns.

And I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold four horns.

19 And I said to the angel, who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah and Israel and Jerusalem.”

And I said to the angel that spoke with me, What are these things, [my] lord? And he said to me, These are the horns that have scattered Juda, and Israel, and Jerusalem.

20 And the Lord showed me four workmen.

And the Lord showed me four artificers.

21 And I said, “What have these come to do?” He spoke, saying, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it.”

And I said, What are these coming to do? And he said, These are the horns that scattered Juda, and they broke Israel in pieces, and none of them lifted up his head: and these are come forth to sharpen them for their hands, [even] the four horns, the nations that lifted up the horn against the land of the Lord to scatter it.